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Manual of Indian Buddhism c5: Part III. The Law of the Buddha

Manual of Indian Buddhism c5

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Contents

Part III. The Law of the Buddha

1. Fundamental Principles

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When the Buddha had taken possession of the seat of full enlightenment, he evolved from within two formulas, ever since revealed by him to all beings, and represented as the fundamental truths of his teaching. These formulas are the four Āryasatyāni⁴ and the twelvefold Pratītyasamutpāda.

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⁴ These are taught by all Buddhas; see e. g. Therag. vs. 492.

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The four Satyāni, i. e. Axioms or Certainties, summarily denoted by the four terms duḥkha, suffering, samudaya, cause, nirodha, suppression, and pratipad or mārga, path, way, state it as undeniable that there is suffering; that suffering necessarily has a cause; that in order to suppress the evil one must know the right way⁵.

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⁵ The theme is worked out in the first sermon addressed to the 5 mendicant friars MV. I, 6, 19; Lal. V. 540; and in other passages, e. g. Majjh. N. I, p. 48.

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It is not difficult to see that these four Satyas are nothing else but the four cardinal articles of Indian medical science, applied to the spiritual healing of mankind, exactly as in the Yoga doctrine¹. This connection of the Āryasatyas with medical science was apparently not unknown to the Buddhists themselves, for in Lal. V. p. 448 we find immediately after the announcement of the discovery of the two formulas the significant words: "*utpanno vaidyarājaḥ pramocakaḥ sarvaduḥkhebhyaḥ, pratiṣṭhāpako nirvāṇasukhe, niṣaṇṇas Tathāgatagarbhe Tathāgatamahādharmarājāsane*". And again p. 458:

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¹ E. g. in Yogasūtra II, 15, Comm.: "yathā cikitsāśastram caturvyūham: rogo, rogahetur, ārogyam, bhaiṣajyam iti, evam idam api śāstraṃ caturvyūham eva, tadyathā: saṃsāraḥ, saṃsārahetur, mokṣo, mokṣopāya iti. Tatrah duḥkhabahulaḥ saṃsāro heyaḥ; pradhānapuruṣayoḥ saṃyogo heyahetuḥ; saṃyogasyatyantiki nivṛttir hānam; hānopāyaḥ samyagdarśanam". Cp. Sarvad. Saṅgr. p. 180. Hence follows that the activity of *buddhi*, which as being an evolution of *pradhāna* belongs to *prakṛti*, ceases at the *nivṛtti* of the union; in other words: the activity of the *Buddha* ceases at Nirvana or Nirvṛti (which looks like an intentional substitution for Nivṛtti).

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*cirāture jivaloke kleśavyādhipraptḍite |*
*vaidyarāṭ tvam samutpannaḥ sarvavyādhipramocakaḥ* ‖

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The second formula, the Concatenation of causes and effects, the twelvefold Pratītyasamutpāda or causal production, otherwise termed "the 12 Nidānas (causes)" is intended to lay bare the root of evil, and stands to the 4 Satyas in the same relation as Pathology, (Nidāna or Nidāna-śāstra), to the whole system of medical science. The terms of the series are: *avidyā*, ignorance; *saṃskārās*, impressions; *vijñāna*, clear consciousness; *nāmarūpa*, name-and-form²; *ṣaḍāyatana*, the six organs of sense; *sparśa*, contact (of the senses with exterior objects); *vedanā*, feeling; *tṛṣṇā*, desire; *upādāna*, clinging, effort³; *bhava*, becoming, beginning of existence; *jāti*, birth, existence; *jarāmaraṇam*, śokaparidevanaduḥkhadaurmanasyopayāsāḥ, old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, despondency⁴.

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² I. e. all physical and mental phaenomena, the same as *papañca* S. Nip. p. 95, and consequently = *māyā*. In an idealistic system like Buddhism the phaenomena are, of course, no realities. Since every human body consists of an aggregate of physical and mental elements, of the 5 Skandhas, such a being can be designed as *nāmarūpa*.

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³ The definition Majjh. N. I, p. 266 is: *yā vedanāsu nandī, tad upādānam*; as to the 4 Upādānas, see there p. 66; cp. p. 51, and Samy. N. II, p. 3.

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⁴ MV. I, 1; Lal. V. 442 ff. *Lotus* p. 109; and the references in CHILDERS s. v. *paṭiccasamuppāda*, and Dharma-S. XLII, note.

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It seems probable that the whole series, in which the difference between the *post hoc* and the *propter hoc* is utterly ignored, is, like the corresponding Yoga tenet, stating *avidyā* to be the ultimate cause of *duḥkha*⁵, an imitation or adaptation of some ancient cosmogonical myth, poetically describing the creation, and the destruction of the world, i. e. the successive stages in the daily phaenomena, beginning when light emerges out of darkness, the world out of chaos, up to the end of day after its troubles. A similar adaptation is the Pratyaya-sarga of the Sāṅkhya, the very name of which suggests some connection with the Pratītya-samutpāda. The connection, however, is not such as to warrant the assumption of a mutual dependence between the Buddhist and the Sāṅkhya series; we only surmise that both systems derive from a common remote source⁶.

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⁵ Yogas. II, 15: "duḥkham eva sarvam vivekināḥ", on which the Comment: "tad asya mahato duḥkhasamudāyasya prabhavatījam *avidyā*; cp. II, 4: "avidyā kṣetram uttareṣām".

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⁶ It is not in the Pratyaya-sarga, but in the Sāṅkhya theory of creation that there is a partial parallelism to be discovered between the Buddhist and the Sāṅkhya system; as follows:

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When we try to connect the twelvefold formula with cosmogonical notions, we arrive at the following conclusions. *Avidyā*, ignorance, is the state of not-knowing, of sleep. An allusion to this state of man is found in Lal. V. p. 458:

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ciraprasuptam imaṃ lokam tamaḥskandhāvaguṇṭhitam |
bhavān prajñāpradīpena samarthaḥ pratibodhitum ‖

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Man at first awaking enters into a state of half-consciousness; his mind is affected by vague impressions (saṃskāras) before he has reached the state of clear consciousness. Then the phaenomena appear to him, and the activity of his organs of sense commences. By the contact of the organs with some exterior object (either real or ideal) a certain feeling or sensation is produced. Feeling leads to the wish (tṛṣṇā) of getting what seems desirable, and that wish, steadily increasing¹ produces a strong clinging and effort to bring about a state of things differing from the present state. So a new state begins, and immediately after the process of becoming, of transition, the new existence springs to light. That existence, having a beginning, must also have an end, which is ushered in, so to say, by all kinds of misery².

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¹ Upadāna also means “fuel”. ² For a totally different translation and explanation see Prof. RHYS DAVIDS and OLDENBERG in SBE. XI, pp. 75 ff., and the latter’s “Buddha” (Engl. transl. p. 226 ff.); CHILDERS in “Life and Essays of Colebroke” II, p. 453; BIGANDET I, 93. Cp. also BEAL SBE. XIX, 161. ³ HODGSON Ess. p.

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The Northern Buddhist know more than one explanation of the process. The next approach to the interpretation just proposed is that prevailing in the Kārmika school³. It can be formulated as follows: from false knowledge spring delusive impressions; from these, general notions; from them, particulars; from them, the six seats of the senses; from them, contact; from it, definite sensation; from it, desire; from it, embryonic existence; from it, actual physical existence; from it, all the distinctions of genus and species among animate things; from them, decay and death. According to another theory⁴ the series represents the history of human life, in twelve acts; a history beginning ab ovo or even arelier, and ending with decay and death. The root of all is Avidyā, i. e. the error of deeming transient things to be permanent; from error spring Saṃskāras, affections, temporary dispositions, as love, hate and infatuation; from them springs Vijñāna, incipient consciousness of the embryo; from this proceeds Nāmarūpam, i. e. the rudimentary body consisting of nāman, earth and the other three elements, and rūpa, forms⁵. Thence proceed the Ṣaḍāyatanas, organs of the senses; when the organs come in conjunction with Name-and-Form, there is Sparśa, contact. Thence follows Vedanā, feeling, sensation; then arises Tṛṣṇa, longing (for renewal of pleasant feeling and desire to shun what is painful). Hence Upadāna, effort, beginning of action; then Bhava, state (of merit or demerit). Then comes Jāti, birth, i. e. the aggregation of the 5 Skandhas. On birth will follow decay, death, etc.

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A recent discovery⁶ among the frescoes of the caves of Ajaṇṭa has

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| Avidyā | parall. | Pradhāna |
| Saṃskāras | ” | Buddhi |
| Vijñāna | ” | Ahaṃkāra |
| Nāmarūpam | ” | Tanmātrāḥ |
| Ṣaḍāyatanam | ” | Indriyāṇi. |

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⁷⁹ The Nidānas with exception of the first and last term are called the 10 Karmans, Acts. ⁴ Mentioned by Govindānanda in the Ṭīkā on Brahma-Sūtra p. 549. ⁵ HODGSON l. c.: “thence proceeds an organised and definite, but archetypal body, the seat of that consciousness”. ⁶ By L. A. WADDELL, to whose paper “Buddha’s Secret from a sixth century Pictorial commentary and Tibetan Tradition” in JRAS of 1894, p. 367 and Buddh. of Tib. 105–121, we refer the reader.

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brought to light a picture which pourtrays the Nidānas in concrete form. This picture, supplemented by its Tibetan versions and its explanation by the Lamas, shows unmistakably a diagram of Human Life. This agrees with the theory known to Govindānanda, notwithstanding discrepancies in the rendering of some terms in the Wheel of Life. Whether we may see in it "a complete authentic account of human life from the absolute standpoint of the earliest Buddhist philosophy"¹ does not seem to be beyond all doubt. This much, however, is plain that the purport of the Pratītya-samutpāda is to show how all evil, death &c. ultimately springs from Avidyā. Formally this does not differ from the Yoga axiom: "Avidyā is the germ from which the whole mass of evil proceeds", but the sentiment underlying the phrase is another. For the Yoga philosopher has a craving for permanency, he is a śāśvatavādin. Hence all that is impermanent and changeable is to him an evil², and therefore he seeks after true knowledge, the right insight that the puruṣa is in reality not affected by its union with prakṛti, and that it is only avidyā, the wrong notion, about that union which is the cause of evil and grief.

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¹ WADDELL op. c. p. 370. Curious is the interpretation of bhava. It is "pictured by a married woman; and the Lamas explain the picture by saying that she is the wife of the individual whose life-history is being traced". Cp. the phrase taṇhā janeti purisaṃ Samy. N. I, p. 37. This explains, to a certain extent, how sañjananī and janikā, Skr. janikā (Lal. V. 541) "natural impulse" are nearly synonymous with taṇhā, Dh.-Saṅgaṇi 1059, where bhava, however is not taken in a realistic or material acceptation, as may be inferred from 1312, where bhavataṇhā is explained as "yo bhavesu bhavacchando", and bhavadiṭṭhi 1313 as "bhavissati attā ca loko cāti evarūpā diṭṭhi".

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² The phrase yad aniccaṃ dukkhaṃ is Buddhist also, e. g. Samy. N. II, p. 244.

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The two fundamental formulas, to which may be added the stanza "Ye dhammā hetuppabhavā"³, do not presuppose the belief in retribution and rebirth, the Karman theory, nor do they contain anything decidedly opposed to it. The same can not be said of the Buddhist doctrine regarding the Ātman, self, soul, individuality.

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³ So above p. 25.

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A concise and clear exposition of the three principal contending theories regarding Ātman is found in Pugg. P. p. 38⁴. These theories are the Śaśatavāda, the Ucchedavāda, and the doctrine of Buddha. The first holds that the soul is truly existing, both in this life and in the life to come; the second, that the soul is truly existing, but only in this life; the Buddha teaches that soul is not truly existing, neither in this life, nor in the life to come⁵.

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⁴ Cp. Dīgh. N. I, pp. 12 ff., 35 ff. and Samy. N. III, p. 205.

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⁵ CHILDERS s. v. ucchedo has the following remark: "This doctrine was hold in great abhorrence by the Buddhists, being directly antagonistic to the whole spirit and scheme of Buddhism". This is not very clear. If the ucchedavāda, admitting the existence of the soul, albeit only for this life, strikes at the root of the transmigration theory, then Buddhism, denying the existence of soul altogether, does so with double force.

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The categorical and absolute denial of an ātman is evidently in conflict with the common Hindu view of karman, which is based upon the assumption of the existence of a soul. Therefore the Buddhists could not adopt the theory in their own system without modifications. The shape which the dogma has received under their hands is admirably described by CHILDERS⁶: "When a man dies the khandhas of which he is constituted perish, but by the force of his Kamma a new set of khandhas instantly starts into existence, and a new being appears in another world, who though possessing different khandhas and a different form is in reality identical with the man just passed away, because his Kamma is the same. Kamma then is the link that preserves the identity of a being through all the countless changes which it undergoes in its progress through Samsāra¹.

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⁶ Dict. s. v. khandha.

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¹ For a scholastic exposition of the theory see Mil. p. 40 ff. Cp. HARDY M. of B. 396 ff.

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Such a theory, it will be admitted, is beyond the reach of human reason, but that is no argument against its appropriateness in the original system of the creed. For Buddhism is professedly no rationalistic system, it being a superhuman (uttarimanussa) Law founded upon the decrees of an omniscient and infallible Master, and in such a creed mysteries are admissible. A somewhat greater difficulty arises if we wish to reconcile the maxim sarvam anityam, "all is impermanent", with this theory; for if all is impermanent, the Karman can not be productive ad infinitum. Yet, even this difficulty can be got rid of, on the assumption that the phrase is only a certain way of speaking to denote that all is changeable except the ideal link connecting the successive stages of being. It is less easy to account for such examples of punishment as are related of Ciñcā and others, who are represented as being swallowed by the earth and going down to hell before the eyes of all present. Does this belong to the mythology of the creed? If so, why should not the Karman theory pertain to the same category?

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The more we try to remove the difficulties, the more we are driven to the suspicion that original Buddhism was not exactly that of the canonical books. If we suppose that the teaching of the founder of the Order was free from mythology and the Karman theory, we get a system intelligible, self-consistent and perfectly apt to lead persons possessing a contemplative bent of mind, by means of a dignified and harmless solitary and cenobitic mode of life, to the blissful state of calm beatitude, called Nirvāṇa², a state only surpassed by the final Nirvāṇa or Parinirvāṇa, when all suffering is absolutely and for ever at an end³.

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² I. c. the upādisesa- or sa-upādisesa Nirvāṇa, the jīvanmukti of the Hindus, whereas the final N. is anupādisesa; see CHILDERS s. v. The definition of anupādisesā nibbāna-dhātu in Itiv. p. 38 is wrong, and in glaring conflict with the words in the stanza there: anupādisesā pana samparāyikā yamhi nirujjhanti bhavāni sabbaso.

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³ Cp. WASSILIEF B. 94.

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Whatever may be our doubts about the original form of Buddhism, it is certain that the dogma in question made part and parcel of the whole system of Dharma before the great bulk of the canonical books were composed. The hypothesis that in course of time some elements were incorporated into the creed to which originally they were foreign, does not involve the belief in a radical change. In our view Buddhism was from the very beginning essentially such as we find it in the Tripiṭaka; a creed aptly characterized⁴ in the following words: "As a philosophy, Buddhism thus seems to be an Idealistic Nihilism; an Idealism which, like that of Berkeley, holds that "the fruitful source of all error was the unfounded belief in the reality and existence of the external world"; and that man can perceive nothing but his feelings, and is the cause to himself of these. That all known or knowable objects are relative to a conscious subject, and merely a product of the ego, existing through the ego, for the ego, and in the ego⁵. But, unlike Berkeley's Idealism, this recognition of the relativity and limitations of knowledge, and the consequent disappearance of the world as a reality, led directly to Nihilism, by seeming to exclude the knowledge, and by implication the existence, not only of a Creator, but of an absolute Being⁶."

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⁴ By WADDELL, op. c. p. 384.

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⁵ This is Vedānta.

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⁶ Nihilism is tersely expressed in S. Nip. p. 203: "natthi ajjhattañ ca bahiddhā ca kiñcāti passato"; cp. p. 194: "natthiti nissāya tarassu ogham".

2. The Elements of Existence. Karman. The Road to Deliverance

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Every organized being consists of Name and Form. The former denotes all mental or internal phenomena; the latter, all physical or external phenomena¹. Nāman generally includes four of the five Skandhas, viz. *vedanā*, feeling; *sañjñā*, notion; *saṃskārās*, mental dispositions, and *vijñāna*, clear consciousness, discrimination. *Rūpa* comprehends the four elements (*mahābhūtāni*): earth, water, fire, air, and every form springing from them².

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¹ Cp. Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa XIV, 11, 4, 3.

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² MV. I, 6, 36. Dh. Saṅg. 1309 adds a fifth, viz. *asaṅkhata dhātu*. In Saṃy. N. II, p. 3 the four Skandhas are *vedanā*, *saññā*, *phassa*, and *manasikāra*. The usual N. enumeration of the 5 Skandhas is: *rūpa*, *vedanā*, *sañjñā*, *saṃskāra*, *vijñāna*; see BURNOUF Intr. 511, but Śaṃkara on Brahma-S. II, 2, 18, Dharma-S. XXII, and Sarvad. Saṅg. p. 20 follow a different order, a circumstance connected with the variance in the definitions of the terms. — A scholastic enumeration of the twenty-eight-fold Rūpakkhandha occurs in Vis. M.; see CHILDERS s. v. *rūpam*. — On the 18 Dhātus, principles or properties of primary substances, see Dharma-S. XXV and the references there. How these are connected and how unconnected with each of the 5 Skandhas, see Dhatuk. P. p. 2; cp. p. 51 f.

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It appears from this enumeration that Nāmarūpa and the 5 Skandhas are coextensive terms. The definition of the mental Skandhas is attended with considerable difficulties, owing to the ambiguousness of most terms, and the loose way in which they are used. Not to go farther than the Pāli texts, we see how *saññā*, notion or first perception, and *vedanā*, feeling, sensation, form each a separate Khandha and at the same time occur as two subdivisions of the Saṃkhāra-khandha. This, however unlogical, is not inexplicable, provided we do not assign to Saṃkhāra the meaning of "discrimination", as HARDY has done. The first of the 52 Saṃkhāras is *phassa*, touch, contact, whereas the sentiments as fear, joy, shame &c. are likewise Saṃkhāras; which would be impossible if the term had the meaning assigned to it by HARDY³. Saṃkhāras are, in our opinion, passing impressions, mental dispositions, comprising both intellectual affections and sentiments. Hence the first step in the line of Saṃkhāras is *phassa*, contact⁴; the second *vedanā*, feeling; the third *saññā*, notion (e. g. of different colours); *cetanā*, thought, intention; *manasikāra*, attention; *jīvitindriya*, vitality⁵; *cittekaggatā*, concentration of the mind; *vitakka*, consideration; *vicāra*, deliberation; and so on⁶.

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³ In Vyu. § 104 *sparśa* &c. are simply called *caitasikā dharmās*, mental conditions.

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⁴ Somewhat differently Mil. P. 60 ff.

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⁵ Cp. Dh. Saṅg. 295.

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⁶ Abhidhamma-Saṅgaha, cited by CHILDERS Dict. p. 455 for the whole series; Dh. Saṅg. 338. Minor differences in the terms and in the order may be left unnoticed. The list in Vyu. I. c. contains 94 terms; cp. HARDY M. of B. 404 ff. Dharma-S. distinguishes *Cittasaṃprayuktasamskāras*, 40 in number, from the 12 *Cittaviprayuktasamskāras*, XXX, XXXI.

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*Viññāṇa*, clear consciousness, has 89 subdivisions, and comprises clear consciousness of what is transmitted by the organs of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touch, and the sixth sense, *manas*; farther the clear consciousness or discrimination of what is good, bad, or indifferent. In the latter case the term denotes spontaneous or instinctive moral discrimination⁷.

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⁷ The enumeration of the subdivisions in HARDY M. of B. 419 ff. Cp. the extracts from Vis. M. and Abhidh. Saṅg. with CHILDERS p. 577. The list much shorter Vyu. § 105.

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The N. definition of the four mental Skandhas⁸ is, shortly formulated, as follows: *Viññāṇa* is clear consciousness of what is going on in our interior. From it in combination with the Rūpaskandha springs *vedanā*, feeling of what is pleasant, painful, &c. *Sañjñā* is the distinct notion of an object, by which we are enabled to recognize the object. *Samskāras* are affections, temporary mental or moral dispositions, having their motive in *vedanā*; to them belong the *kleśas* (defiling passions¹) as love, hatred, &c.; the *upakleśas* (secondary *kleśas*), as pride, conceit &c., piety and impiety².

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⁸ Sarvad. Saṅg. p. 20.

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¹ Dharma-S. LXVI, note.

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² The number in Dharma-S. LXIX is twentyfour; other sources see Pugg. P. II, 1-9 give only twenty; see Dharma-S. l. c. note.

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The aggregation of the five Skandhas constitute the *pudgala*, *puggala*, what we would call the individual, but what in the idealistic system of Buddhism is a being without real individuality. Although the Skandhas constitute the Pudgala, it is explicitly asserted that neither separately nor conjointly they *are* the Pudgala³.

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³ Mil. P. 25 ff.; cp. 61, where the expression *ekacco puggalo* may not unaptly be rendered with "somebody", but in an idealistic, i. e. nihilistic sense.

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The cause of the aggregation of the Skandhas, i. e. of birth and rebirth, is Karman. Hence it is said: "It is Name-and-Form which is reborn". We have seen that Nāma-rūpa is coextensive with the 5 Skandhas⁴. The passage through a succession of existences, transmigration, bears the usual name of Samsāra.

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⁴ How the process of rebirth is going on, is minutely expounded Mil. P. 43; 72; 77.

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The Karman is supposed to have no beginning, but it *can* have an end. The means of attaining that end, of destroying the working of Karman is the Eightfold Path, as the Master set forth in his first discourse⁵.

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⁵ See above p. 23. The Pali terms are: *sammā-diṭṭhi*, *s.-saṅkappa*, *s.-vācā*, *s.-kammanta*, *s.-ājīva*, *s.-vāyāma*, *s.-sati*, *s.-samādhi*; in Skr. *samyag-dṛṣṭi*, *s.-saṅkalpa*, *s.-vāc*, *s.-karmānta*, *s.-ājīva*, *s.-vyāyāma*, *s.-smṛti*, *s.-samādhi*. Definitions Dh. Saṅg. 297-304. Cp. BURNOUF, Intr. 519. The Fivefold Path, *pañcaṅgiko maggo* comprises Nos. 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8 of the eight; Dh. Saṅg. p. 21.

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According to the stage one has reached in one's course towards Deliverance, *Nirvāṇa*, there is a fourfold division. Those who are, walking in this path of Sanctification in four stages are called, respectively: Srotaāpanna, Sakṛdāgāmin, Anāgāmin, Arhat (Pāli: Sotāpanna, Sakadāgāmin, Anāgāmin, Arahā), and with a common designation Srāvaka, Savaka, disciple. Each of the stages or path-divisions is subdivided into a higher and a lower degree, the *mārga*, *magga*, and its *phala*, result, fruition⁶.

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⁶ See CHILDERS s. vv. *maggo* and *phalam*; cp. BIGANDET I, 153. For the four saints and their characteristics see Vyu. §§ 46, 48; and cp. BEAL Cat. p. 191; cp. MINAYEF Recherches I, 217 ff., where sectarian views also are noticed.

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The Srotaāpanna is he who has entered the first stage (*srotaāpatti*, *sotāpatti*), the neophyte. He has got rid of the first three bonds of human passion, *samyojana*⁷; the doors of the states of punishments, *apāya*, are shut for him.

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⁷ *Viz.* *diṭṭhi* or *sakkāyadiṭṭhi*, heresy or the heresy of individuality; *vicikicchā*, scepticism, and *sīlabbataparāmāsa*, observance of superstitious rites. Aṅg. N. II, p. 238; Dh. Saṅg. 1002-1005; Dharma-S. LXVIII. There are several classes of Srotaāpannas; the lowest is he who will be reborn 7 times at most, called *saptakṛbhavaparama*, P. *sattakkhattuparama*, Vyu. § 46; CHILDERS s. v. *paramo*; *kulamkula*, P. *kolamkola*, one who will be reborn 2 or 3 times; Pugg. P. p. 16; Aṅg. N. p. 233; Vyu. l. e. *Cp.* Dharma-S. CIII, note.

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The Sakṛdāgāmin is so termed because he will once be reborn in the world of men. He is not only free from the first three bonds, but has in addition reduced to a minimum *rāga*, affection, *dveṣa*; P. *dosa*, hatred, and *moha*, infatuation⁸.

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⁸ Synonymous with Sak. is *Ekabijin*, corrupted in Skr. to *Ekavīcika*; Pugg. P. p. 16; Aṅg. N. I, 233 ff. Vyu. § 46.

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The Anāgāmin is he who has freed himself from the first five or lower (avarabhāgīya, P. orambhāgīya) bonds¹ and will not be reborn on earth or in a Kāmaloka, but in a Brahmaloka.

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¹ To wit the 3 specified above, with kāmarāga, attachment, and paṭigha, antipathy; Majjh. N. I, p. 432; Aṅg. N. II, p. 238; somewhat different in Dh. Saṅg. 1460. Cp. Divy. 533; 553; Vyu. § 109. — Five classes of Anāgāmins are enumerated Pugg. P. p. 16 f. Vyut. § 46; cp. CHILDERS s. v. anāgāmī.

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The Arhat is he in whom the causes of moral infection² are exhausted, the impurities washed away, the Kleśas³ rejected; who has fulfilled his task, laid down his burden, removed all bonds⁴, obtained the four kinds of transcendent faculties⁵. He is no more subject to rebirth⁶.

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² Āsrava, P. āsava. Their number is three: kāma-, bhava- and avijjāsava; or four: the foregoing with addition of heresy; BURNOUF Intr. 823; CHILDERS s. v. āsavo.

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³ I. e. besetting evil propensities of the mind, 10 in number; enumerated Dh. Saṅg. 1548; with some variations in Lal. V. p. 59 (where we have to read rāgo for rogo); 348 (r. rāgo, and add mrakṣa); 349.

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⁴ Not only the lower, but also the higher (ūrdhvabhāgīya, P. uddhambhāgīya); see CHILDERS s. v. saṃyojana; the list in Dh. Saṅg. 1460 shows variations. Cp. Vyu. § 109.

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⁵ Patisambhidā; more about this term in the sequel.

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⁶ The character and qualities of the four degrees of Saints are fully described in Mil. P. 102 ff. Cp. Vyu. § 46. — The fourfold division of Yogins is: Prathamakalpika, Madhubhūmika, Prajñājyotis, and Atikrāntabhavanīya; Yogas. III, 50, Comm.

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One who, without having entered the first stage, is in possession of those conditions upon which the commencement of sanctification immediately ensues, is called a Gotrabhū⁷. Such a previous stage, which is, so to say, the court-yard of Holiness, is known to the N. Buddhists by the name of Gotrabhūmi⁸.

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⁷ Pugg. P. p. 13; cp. CHILDERS s. v.

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⁸ WASSILIEF B. 239.

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Those who are walking in the four paths in their progress towards final beatitude rank as true Āryas in contradistinction to the profanum vulgus, the Pṛthagjanas. Their power far surpasses that of common mortals, which is nothing strange, as the notion that transcendent power is attainable by man is prevalent among Hindu sects; the Yogin more especially is, to vulgar apprehension, a worker of miracles. Further on we shall have occasion to revert to this subject.

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The object of the Ārya is to reach Nirvāṇa⁹. It is impossible within a short compass to refer to all the opinions emitted on the subject; it would fill a volume. We will, therefore, ourselves to the main points.

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⁹ Synonymous terms are Nirvṛti, Nibbuti; Amṛta, Amata, and others. The terms are known also to other Indian sects, with a different shade of meaning. The usual term in the Yoga is Kaivalya; in the Vedānta, Mukti, Mokṣa; in the Nyaya, Apavarga; in the system of the Śaiva-monks, Duhkhānta. In Caraka IV, 5 occur as synonymous with "final rest": śānti, amṛta, brahman, nirvāṇa.

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In the first place we must distinguish between the secondary Nirvāṇa and the final or absolute one. The former Nirvāṇa, attained by Arhats in this life, is virtually the same as the Jivanmukti of the Vedāntins. It is specified by the addition of upādisesa or sa-upādisesa in Pāli, upadhiśeṣa with the N. Buddhists¹⁰, i. e. having the residuum of a substratum.

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¹⁰ Vyu. § 95; BURNOUF Intr. 590; CHILDERS s. v. upādiseso, where the remark that nirupadhi is with the S. Buddhists a distinctive epithet of the Arhat, must be coupled with what the same author says s. v. upadhi: "the term nirupadhi may also be applied to one who has attained anupādisesa-nibbāna, has ceased to exist". Now the N. Buddhists use nirupadhi exactly in the latter sense, and yet they are blamed by the author! On the confusion in Itiv. p. 30 see above p. 50.

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The second or final, absolute Nirvāṇa (nirupadhiśeṣa, P. anupādisesa) — in case of the Buddha usually styled Parinirvāṇa — can only be reached after death. By it all suffering ceases, completely and for ever, and in so far it may be extolled as a blissful state, and as eternal, amṛta (amata). Does it imply a complete cessation of consciousness? It does, of course, if we draw the logical conclusions from the fundamental principles underlying the creed¹. But not every one draws logical conclusions, and it would seem that even in the bosom of the Congregation there reigned some uncertainty anent the point in question. This would not be very wonderful. When the brethren repeatedly heard how the Buddha was conscious of all occurrences in his former births, some of them may involuntarily have been led to believe that memory, consciousness survives after death. We may understand how in order to prevent fruitless discussions among the brethren the Buddha is represented to have laid down the rule that the question: "Does the Tathāgata exist after death, or does he not?" is one of those questions that must be set aside as useless and remain unanswered².

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¹ We refer to the exhaustive and masterly article nibbāna in CHILDERS Dict. Cp. D'ALWIS, Buddhist Nirvāṇa; FRANKFURTER, Buddhist Nirvāṇa and the Noble Eightfold Path, JRAS of 1880; RHYS DAVIDS B. 14. — For the Mahayānist the idea of Nirvāṇa is a mere delusion, as we shall see in the sequel.

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² Majjh. N. I, 426 ff.; 484; Samy. N. II, p. 222; Mil. P. 145. It is not easy to reconcile, unless by sophisms, this agnosticism with the words spoken by the Tathāgata in Samy. N. II, p. 232: „Puggalam passāmi param maraṇā Nirayam upapannan”. And how to explain another passage, Samy. N. III, p. 109, where the theory that the “khiṇāsavo ucchijjāti, na hoti paraṃ maraṇā” is rejected as being heterodox?

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Practically, Nirvāṇa means a happy death without fear of rebirth. If so, how then can the Buddha be said to have conquered Māra? Because he conquered, not, indeed, physical death, but the abject fear of death. The means of bringing about that result, consists in representing death as something extremely blissful.

3. Spiritual Exercises

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The striving for Nirvāṇa requires a good deal of constant spiritual exercise, meditation and contemplation, such as with insignificant variations are practised by all Indian ecstatics.

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As a preparatory to soaring into the higher regions of thought, must be considered the bhāvanā, cultivation, cherishing of the sentiments of maitrī, benevolence, karuṇā, compassion, muditā, cheerfulness, and upekṣā, indifference, equanimity. These four Bhāvanās, identical in name and character with those of all Yogins³, are otherwise termed brahmavihāra, living in the spiritual world, and P. appamaññā, Skr. apramāṇa⁴.

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³ Definition in Yogas. I, 33.

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⁴ Aṅg. N. II, p. 130; Nip. p. 89; Vyu. § 72; Lal. V. 35; 371; Jat. Mala XXXII. CHILDERS is right in deriving the P. term from appamāṇa, as appears from mettam cittaṃ bhāvanam appamāṇaṃ S. Nip. I. c.; appamāṇasamādhi = appamaññā Aṅg. N. I, p. 236; appamāṇaṃ cetosamādhiṃ II, 54; cp. Majjh. N. I, p. 283. We have also aparimāṇa S. Nip. p. 26.

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Sometimes a fifth Bhāvanā is added to the four Brahmavihāras, to wit the Aśubhabhāvanā, realisation of the loathsomeness of the body, but in this case bhāvanā means conception, realisation; synonymous terms are asubhasañña and aśubhapratyavekṣā⁵. There are 10 Aśubhas, notions arising from the contemplation of a dead body; the names in P. are: uddhumātaka, bloated; vinīlaka, blackish; vipubbaka, festering; vicchiddaka, fissured from decay; vikkhāyitaka, gnawed by animals; vikkhittaka, scattered; hatavikkhittaka, injured and scattered; *lohitaka*, bloody; *puḷavaka*, full of worms; *aṭṭhika*, bones¹.

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⁵ Majjh. N. I, p. 424; Vyu. § 52, Title; Lal. V. 36; CHILDERS s. v. asubho.

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¹ Dh. Saṅg. 264. The corresponding terms Vyu. § 52 are: *vinīlaka-*, *vīpūyaka-*, *vīpadumaka-*, *vyādhmātaka-*, *vilohitaka-*, *vikhāditaka-*, *vikṣiptaka-*, *vidagdhaka-*, and *asthi-sañjñā*. This list counts one term less than the P. Asubhas, for a detailed account of which see HARDY E. M. 268.

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The ten Asubhas, as well as the four Brahmavihāras, belong to the 40 philosophical Operations or Kammaṭṭhānas². These Operations include the tenfold Kasiṇa, a kind of mystic Bhāvanā. The ten objects on which the attention at this operation must be fixed are: earth, water, fire, air, blue, yellow, red, white, light, and ether or space³. The same rite is practised by the the N. Buddhists, who term it *kṛtsnāyatana*, object or base of Kṛtsna. The ten modes of operation are given in the following order: *nīla-*, *pīta-*, *lohita-*, *avadāta-*, *pṛthivī-*, *ap-*, *tejas-*, *vāyu-*, *ākāśa-*, and *vijñāna-kṛtsnāyatana*⁴.

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² Enumerated from Vis. M. by CHILDERS s. v. They are included in the more extensive series of 108 Dharmālokamukhas in Lal. V. 34 ff.

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³ See CHILDERS s. v. *kasino*. In Majjh. N. I, 423 we find the 5 elements, earth, water, fire, air, and ether or space as objects of *pathavīsamā bhāvanā* &c. The 5 elements with Vijñāna constitute the 6 *Dhātus*; see Dharma-S. LVIII, note. The following bhāvanās l. c. are *metta-*, *karuṇā-*, *muditā-*, *upekkhābhāvanā*; then *asubha*; further *aniccasaññā*; finally *ānāpāna-sati*.

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⁴ Vyu. § 72. The *vijñāna-k.* instead of *āloka-k.* recurs in a Pāli source, Saṅgtti-S.; see CHILDERS l. c. and HARDY E. M. 252 ff. for a more detailed description.

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The 40 Operations further comprise the 10 kinds of *anusmṛti*, P. *anussati*, recollection, constant thinking: on the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṅgha; morality; liberality (*cāga*, *tyāga*); the gods; death; the body; the regulation of inspiration and expiration (*ānāpānasmṛti*); and quietude⁵.

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⁵ Aṅg. N. I, 42. Out of these 10 the first six are given by CHILDERS s. v. *anussati*; likewise in Lal. V. 34; Vyu. § 51; Dharma-S. LIV, note.

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The exercise of Ānāpānasmṛti consists in fixing the mind intently on one's own breathing, in connection with certain set subjects of reflection; it is a highly valued kind of Samādhi⁶.

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⁶ For the details of this mystic operation we refer to Majjh. N. I, p. 425; S. Vibh. I, p. 70; Vyu. § 53 (where the term is *ānāpānabhāvanāvidhi*); HARDY E. M. 267 ff. Cp. WASSILIEF B. 139.

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Four species of Kammaṭṭhāna are termed Āruppa, belonging to the 4 incorporeal Brahmalokas: *Ākāsānañcāyatana*, place of infinity of space; *Viññāṇānañcāy.*, p. of infinity of clear consciousness; *Ākiñcaññāy.*, p. of nothingness; *Nevasaññānāsaññāy.*, p. of neither-consciousness-nor-unconsciousness; in Skr. *Ākāśānantyāyatana*, *Vijñānānantyāy.*, *Ākiñcanyāy.*, *Naivasañjñā-nāsañjñāyatana*⁷. Those who by dint of ecstatic meditation soar into those regions, have reached a very high standpoint, there remaining but one superior: the *Saññāvedayitanirodha*, Skr. *Sañjñāveditanirodha*, cessation of consciousness; the same have arrived at the corresponding exalted states of *vimokṣa*, P. *vimokha*, emancipation, deliverance⁸. There is, of course, not much that is particularly Buddhist in this system. For we know that Ārāḷa Kālāma was proficient in the state of Nothingness, and Udraka Rāmaputra in that of Neither-consciousness-nor-unconsciousness, but they were surpassed by the Buddha, who attained to cessation of consciousness⁹.

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⁷ Vyu. §§ 68; 119; BURNOUF Lotus p. 811; HARDY E. M. 261. Cp. Majjh. N. I, p. 455.

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⁸ Majjh. N. I, p. 456; cp. p. 296; Vyu. § 70; Dharma-S. LIX; the form *Sañjñāvedayita* in Mhv. I, 126. — In some passages we meet with a fourfold *cetovimutti*, mental emancipation; viz. *appamaññā*, *ākiñcaññā*, *suññatā*, and *animittā* c.; Majjh. N. I, p. 297; Aṅg. N. I, p. 4; in others, five; see CHILDERS s. v. *vimutti*. The *cittavimukti* in the Yoga is threefold; Yogas. II, 27, Comm.

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⁹ Majjh. N. I, p. 165; Lal. V. 295; 306; Buddhac. XII, vss. 63; 83.

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It results from the foregoing that the four degrees of Dhyāna, P. Jhāna, abstract meditation, though nominally, excluded from the system of Kammaṭṭhānas, are nothing else but the four lower stages of ecstasy. Since the exercise of Dhyāna is confessedly anterior to Buddhism¹, we content ourselves with producing the following passage from the racy description by CHILDERS². "The priest — concentrates his mind upon a single thought. Gradually his soul becomes filled with a supernatural ecstasy and serenity, while his mind still reasons and investigates the subject chosen for contemplation; this is the first Jhāna. Still fixing his thoughts upon the same subject, he then frees his mind from reasoning and investigation, while the ecstasy and serenity remain, and this is the second Jhāna. Next, his thoughts still fixed as before, he divests himself of ecstasy, and attains the third Jhāna, which is a state of tranquil serenity. Lastly, he passes to the fourth Jhāna, in which the mind, exalted and purified, is indifferent to all emotions, alike of pleasure and of pain". Each of the first three Dhyānas is subdivided into three degrees, the inferior, the medial and the superior meditation; the attainment of the first Dhyāna gives the power of working miracles, *rddhi*, P. *iddhi*. In general the Dhyānas secure access to the sixteen corporeal (*rūpa*) Brahmalokas, the peculiar *loka* being determined by the degree of Dhyāna attained³. It is, consequently, plain that the 4 Dhyānas represent a lower stage of ecstatic contemplation than the 4 Āruppas.

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¹ See c. g. Jat. I, p. 58; Mhv. I, 228; Lal. V. 147; Buddhac. XII, vs. 49. Cp. Yogas. III, 2.

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² Dict. p. 169. Original text e. g. in Majjh. N. I, pp. 21; 117; 455; Lal. V. 147; 439; Mhv. I, 228; Vyu. § 67. Cp. Buddhac. XII, vss. 49 ff.

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³ The names of these Lokas in the sequel.

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Sometimes there is question of 5 Dhyānas (*pañcangikam jhānam*). They differ in no essential point from the 4 Dhyānas, the second stage being separated into two⁴.

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⁴ In Dh. Saṅ. §3 the degrees are *vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, and cittass'ekaggatā*.

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In connection with Dhyāna we have to speak of Samādhi, properly a state of most intense concentration and absorption⁵, but in Buddhist writings a wider term. There are different sets of Samādhi. The 3 Samādhis are Savitakka-savicāra-, Avitakka-vicāramatta-, and Avitakka-avicāra. Three others are Suññata, void, Animitta, groundless, reasonless, and Appaṇihita, without fixed purpose⁶, to which correspond 3 states of emancipation⁷. A set of 4 Samādhis is designated by the qualifications of *hānabhāgīya*, leading to rejection; *ṭhitibhāgīya*, l. to firmness; *visesabhāgīya*, l. to distinction, and *nibbedhabhāgīya*, l. to excellence⁸.

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⁵ Mil. P. 38; Yogas. III, 3; Sarvad, S. 164.

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⁶ Aṅg. N. I, p. 299; Mil. P. 337, where the 6 Samādhis are qualified as one of the 7 Ratnas of the Buddha. — Cp. Yogas. 1, 17 f.

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⁷ Dhp. vs. 92 and Comm.; CHILDERS Dict. p. 270. The three Vimoksas or Vimuktis in Vyu. § 73 are: *Śūnyatā, Animittam, Apraṇihitam*. Cp. Dharma-S. LXXII, note.

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⁸ Vyu. § 55 *Nirvedhabhāgīya*, synonymous with *uṣmagata, mūrdhāna, kṣānti, and laukikāgradharma*. Cp. *uṣmagata* &c. WASSILIEF B. 139; 246; Pali *uṣmagata* = *samaṇateja*, Jat. V, p. 208; *usmikata*, highly proficient, brilliant, Majjh. N. I, p. 132.

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In Samādhi one distinguishes two degrees, the inferior called Upacāra-samādhi, and the superior, Appaṇā-S., i. e. initiatory, and penetrating, thoroughly grasping⁹.

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⁹ HARDY E. M. 257. The same division applies to the Kammaṭṭhānas.

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The original meaning of Samādhi is such that any profound pious meditation can be brought under that head. Hence it is not to be wondered at that the Mahāyānists with their ritualistic propensities invented a series of Samādhis adorned with more or less sensational names, but with no definite meaning. The number in the Prajñā-Pāramitā is no less than 108¹.

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¹ Enumerated in Vyu. § 21.

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Theoretically there should be as many Samāpattis as Samādhis. For the latter does not differ more from the former than a process going on does from its accomplishment. It is, in fact, expressly stated that there are eight Samāpattis, coinciding with the four inferior kinds of Samādhi, i. e. the four Dhyānas, and with the four Āruppa Kammaṭṭhānas. The ninth, Nirodha-samāpatti, answers to the Saññāvedayitanirodha².

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² Pugg. P. p. 20; Samy. N. II, p. 216 (nine Vihārasamapattis); Vyu. § 68; BURNOUF Lot. 348; 789; WASSILIEF B. 140; 240. Cp. Yogas. I, 42-48.

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Reverting to the Kammaṭṭhānas, we farther come across the Āhārapaṭikkūlasaññā, consciousness of the impurity of material food³. The last of the list is Catu-dhātu-vavatthāna, determination of the four elements.

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³ HARDY E. M. 96, from Vis. M.

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Besides the forty Operations occasionally occur some exercises not included in the list, and yet termed Kammaṭṭhānas; e. g. the Suññatā-kammaṭṭhāna, but this is obviously merely another name for Suññato (sic) samādhi⁴.

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⁴ Aṅg. N. I, p. 299.

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The base or substratum of an idea, and as such the subject for meditation is called ārammaṇa, Skr. ārambaṇa or, more usually, ālambana⁵.

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⁵ Ārambaṇa in Aṣṭas. P. Pāram. passim, e. g. p. 138; 269; Vyu. § 21; cp. anārambaṇa Chāndogyopaniṣad 2, 9. But ālambana Yogas. I, 10; 38; 42, Comm.

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In the foregoing we have had occasion to name several ideal worlds, the corporeal and the incorporeal Brahmalokas. These and similar worlds are spoken of in a way as if they constituted parts of the universe. The Buddhists, being idealists, make no marked difference between cosmical facts based on observation⁶ and the products of fancy. The one and the other belong to their cosmical system, whereof we will try to give a succinct view.

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⁶ In an idealistic system where there is no room for absolute reality, as the whole world is a product of imagination; in other words: the world is created by Dhyāna. Cp. HODGSON Ess. 28; BEAL Cat. 124.

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4. COSMICAL SYSTEM. CLASSIFICATION OF LIVING BEINGS.

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The universe consists of innumerable spheres, Cakravālas, each of which has its own earth, sun, moon, heavens and hells⁷. Between those spheres are situated certain hells, termed Lokāntarika. The centre of our earth is occupied by Mount Meru or Sumeru (P. also Sineru), around which are the principal mountains, Kulācalas⁸ and beyond these the four continents or Mahā-dvīpas, viz. Uttara-Kuru, the country of the Hyperboreans; Jambudvīpa, India, to the South of the Meru; Apara-Godāna or -Godānīya (P. Apara-Goyāna) to the West; Pūrva-Videha (Pubba-V.) to the East⁹.

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⁷ For details see CHILDERS s. v. sattaloka; HARDY M. of B. 1 ff.; Legends 80 ff. BURNOUF Intr. 599 ff.; WADDELL Buddh. of Tib. 77-104.

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⁸ Cp. Dharma-S. CXXV, note.

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⁹ Cp. Vyu. § 154; Lal. V. 170; Divy. 213 ff.

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Each of the spheres consists of three Avacaras, regions, also styled Lokas, worlds, or Dhātus, layers, floors, the lowest being the region of Kāma, sensual pleasure; higher is the region of Rūpa, form, divided into four stages of Dhyāna; the highest is the region of Arūpa, formlessness¹⁰.

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¹⁰ Vyu. § 155: kāma-, rūpa-, arūpya-dhātu.

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The lowest region is the abode of six classes of gods: 1. the four Rulers of the cardinal points; 2. the Thirty-three gods; 3. the Yāmas; 4. the Tuṣitas; 5. the Nirmāṇaratis; 6. the Parinirmita-vaśavartins¹. These six Devalokas constitute with the world of men, of Asuras, of Pretas, the animal kingdom and the hells, the eleven Kāmalokas².

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¹ Lal. V. 170; Divy. 200; BURNOUF Intr. 212. The gods are longlived, dīghāyuka, but not immortal; Aṅ. II, 33. The same view is common enough among Hindus; e. g. Yājñavalkya Dharmaś. III, 10; Yogas. II, 5, Comm.

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² Vyu. § 156 only eight; to wit the worlds of 6 kinds of gods, of terrestrial beings, and of inhabitants of the atmosphere (antarikṣavāsin).

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The second region, that of Rūpa, or more accurately the Rūpa-brahmaloka — for Rūpaloka in a wider sense includes the Kāmaloka — is divided into sixteen sections, the abodes of as many classes of gods who are free from kāma. Beginning from below we have: 1. Brahmapārisajjas; 2. Brahmapurohitas; 3. Mahābrahmas; 4. Parittābhas; 5. Appamāṇābhas; 6. Ābhassaras; 7. Parittasubhas; 8. Appamāṇasubhas; 9. Subhakiṇṇas; 10. Vehapphalas; 11. Asaññasattas; 12. Avihas; 13. Atappas; 14. Sudassas; 15. Sudassins; 16. Akaniṭṭhas³. The abodes of 1-3 are attained by those who exercise the three degrees of the first Dhyāna, severally. The next three by proficients in the second Dhyāna; the next three by the adepts in the third Dhyāna; 10 and 11 are assigned to the fourth Dhyāna, and the remaining five to the Anāgāmins⁴.

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³ In Majjh. N. I, p. 329 occur the groups 6-10, followed by Abhibhu; cp. there p. 327.

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⁴ CHILDERS s. v. jhānam.

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The Northern texts contain nearly the same names. The first group is made up of Brahmakāyikas, Brahmapāriṣadyas, Brahmapurohitas, Mahābrahmas⁵; the second, of Parittābhas, Apramāṇābhas, and Ābhāsvaras; the third, of Parittaśubhas, Apramāṇaśubhas, and Subhakṛtsnas; the fourth, of Anabhrakas, Puṇyaprasavas, and Vṛhatphalas⁶. The last five are Avṛhas, Atapas, Sudṛśas, Sudarśanas, and Akaniṣṭhas⁷.

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⁵ Thus Vyu. § 157; the second name is wanting in BURNOUF Intr. 212. As there ought to be only three names, it is probable that Brahmakāyikas properly is a comprehensive term for the whole group, as in Pāli; see CHILDERS Dict. p. 486. Cp. Dharma-S. CXXVIII.

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⁶ Lal.V. 171 adds.: Asañjñisattvas, agreeing with P. Asaññasattas; so, too, Dharma-S. l. c.

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⁷ The Atapas wanting in Lal. V. l. c. Vyu. § 161 adds Aghaṇiṣṭhas(!) and Mahāmaheśvarayatana.

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Higher than the Rūpabrahmaloka is the Arūpabr., divided into four degrees which bear the same names as the Aruppa-kammaṭṭhānas⁸.

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⁸ An account of the exact duration of life of the gods residing in the Ākāsānañcāyatana &c. is found Aṅ. N. I, p. 267.

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The very lowest of the thirtyone abodes of living beings are the hells or places of punishment (naraka, niraya). The principal hells are eight in number and known by the names of Sañjīva, Kālasūtra, Saṅghāta, Raurava, Mahāraurava, Tapana, Pratāpana, and the very deepest, Avīci⁹. Apart from these there is the Lokāntarika hell, already mentioned, and many minor hells. In the old system of the N. Buddhists there are besides the eight hot hells just enumerated as many cold hells: Arbuda, Nirarbuda, Aṭaṭa, Hahava, Huhava, Utpala, Padma, and Mahāpadma¹⁰; in the Pāli canon we meet with the same and a few more: Aṭaṭa, Abbuda, Ahaba, Ababa, Kumuda, Uppalaka, Sogandhika, Puṇḍarīka, and Paduma¹¹. In later N. works the number of hells is still greater¹².

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⁹ A detailed description of these hells occurs e. g. Aṅ. N. I, pp. 141 ff. Mhv. I, 7 ff. Cp. Vyu. § 214.

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¹⁰ BURNOUF Intr. 201; Vyu. § 215; Divy. 67. Somewhat different Dharma-S. CXXII, where Apapa = P. Ababa.

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¹¹ S. Nip. p. 123. These terms also denote certain high numerals.

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¹² E. g. in Karaṇḍa-Vyūha. Cp. L. FEER, L'enfer indien, JA 1892 and 1893.

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Above the hells is placed the animal kingdom or brute creation. Not unlikely we have to see in this notion the survival of ancient myths, for real animals are living on our planet, the world of men. Higher than the animal kingdom is the abode of Pretas, ghosts, spectres, though these beings are also placed in the Lokāntarika hell¹. Still higher is the domain of Asuras, demons, among whom ranks foremost Rāhu, the personified eclipse². The hells, together with the next three worlds, constitute the four Apāyalokas³, places of suffering. Adding to them the state of men, we get the 5 Gatis or states of existence⁴.

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¹ Cp. the tales in the Book of Ghost stories, Petavatthu, and CHILDERS s. v. peto.

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² CHILDERS s. v. asuro and Vyu., § 171.

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³ Lal. V. 236 mentions three Apāyas, without specifying them.

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⁴ Or six, if the Asuranikāya be added; BURNOUF Lot. 309; cp. Dharma-S. LVII, note.

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It is difficult for us to realise in how far such theories were matter of serious belief. This much is certain that in the canonical books, both of the South and the North, we repeatedly hear the Master gravely and in a tone of perfect earnest discoursing on his visits to various heavens &c. A visit to the Brahmaloka is vividly described by him in the Brahmanimantaṇika-Sutta⁵. In another passage he asserts that he had received a visit from Brahma Sahampati⁶. Suchlike declarations are numberless, not to speak of the passages where in the history of the Buddha the gods, especially Brahmā and Indra enter as actors, represented with as much reality as the Tathāgata himself. The Master knows all about the destiny of persons in the life to come, and freely predicts where so and so will be reborn, at the same time expressly — and suspiciously — stating that he does not use his transcendent faculty, as other teachers do, out of greed or in order to deceive the world⁷.

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⁵ Majjh. N. I, p. 326.

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⁶ Aṅg. N. II, p. 20; Majjh. N. I, p. 458.

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⁷ Majjh. N. I, p. 464.

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What have we to infer from all this? Whatever may have been the conviction and purpose of those who composed the canonical texts, it can hardly be doubted that the majority of the believers, both among the laity and the monks, have, up to this day, put implicit faith in the contents of their sacred books⁸.

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⁸ On the other hand it cannot be denied that in later Mahāyānist or Tantric works we come across instances of thorough going scepticism. In the Vajramanda Dhāraṇī the Buddha declares: "The hells, o Mañjuśrī, are a creation of ignorant men who foolishly believe in what does not exist; the hells are a product of their fancy"; BURNOUF Intr. p. 544.

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Besides this system of 31 worlds and their inhabitants, there is another in which living beings are distinguished according to their higher and lower degree of spiritual excellence; a distinction, it must be observed, of a temporary character. For the lowest beings in the scale may by dint of Karman rise to the highest rank, and the most elevated can descend, with the exception of Buddhas, Pratyekabuddhas and Arhats, who are certain of reaching final Nirvāṇa.

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According to this classification the highest beings are: 1. the Supreme Buddhas; then follow: 2. Pratyekabuddhas; 3. Arhats; 4. Devas; 5. Brahmas; 6. Gandharvas, celestial musicians; 7. Garuḍas, winged beings flying through the sky like lightning; 8. Nāgas, snake-like beings, resembling clouds; 9. Yakṣas⁹;

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⁹ This word has in B. writings sometimes a wider and older meaning, viz, that of a being to be worshipped or a powerful spirit; Indra e. g. is called a Yakṣa; even the Buddha is glorified by Upāli as an āhuṇeyyo yakkho uttamapuggalo atulo, Majjh. N. I, p. 386. The term is used synonymously with devaputta Saṃy. N. I, p. 54. In a more restricted sense the Yakṣas are the attendants of Kubera as in Hindu mythology; cp. Vyu. § 169.

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